Tomorrow, I am going to Israel.
I have been there in times of joy. I have been there in times of pain when even the taxi drivers thanked visitors not deterred by the suicide bombings. This time it is different. The pain is never easy, but this time, the pain is unbearable. Every account, every story, every soundbite. And yet, there is no place I’d rather be at this moment. Yearning to help or at least to listen, to bear witness.
How many times these days do we hear that Holocaust never happened?! It was only 75 years ago! And people are still alive out of those who were lucky enough to survive.
October 7, 2023 happened less than three months ago, and some already say it never happened! Whatever I do there, I have to listen and to write down the stories. There is no choice if we want to live as human beings, as Jews.

So, let us hope that peace will come. Real peace, not the ‘holding your breath until the next attack’ peace, but real. And real peace is only possible when evil is defeated.

רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ אוֹמֵר, כָּל מִי שֶׁנַּעֲשָׂה רַחְמָן בֵּמְקוֹם אַכְזָרִי, סוֹף שֶׁנַּעֲשָׂה אַכְזָרִי בִּמְקוֹם רַחֲמָן

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish says, everyone who acts merciful in a place of cruelty, in the end will act cruel in a place of mercy

May we have the wisdom to act with strength now.